Adolf Augustus Berle, Jr. (January 27, 1895 in Boston, Massachusetts – February 17, 1971 in New York City; his name pronounced "burley") was an educator, author, and U.S. diplomat.
Berle was educated at Harvard, and was a member of the
Paris Peace ConferenceThe Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and to deal with the empires of the defeated powers following the Armistice of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than...
after
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. Unhappy with the terms of the Versailles Treaty, he resigned in protest. He became a professor of corporate law at
Columbia Law SchoolColumbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. David Schizer is the dean....
in 1927 and remained on the faculty until retiring in 1964.
During the
FDR AdministrationFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, Berle worked on the
New DealThe New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to his complex package of economic programs 1933-36 with the goals of what historians call the 3 Rs, of giving Relief to the unemployed and badly hurt farmers, Reform of business and financial practices, and promoting...
and the
Good Neighbor PolicyThe Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. The United States wished to have good relations with its neighbors, especially at a time when conflicts were beginning to rise once again, and...
.
As Assistant Secretary of State (1938-1944) in charge of security, Berle had a 1939 meeting, arranged by journalist
Isaac Don LevineIsaac Don Levine was an American journalist and writer.Born in Mozyr, Russia, Levine came to the United States in 1911. He finished high school in Missouri, and found work with The Kansas City Star and later The New York Herald Tribune, for which he covered the Revolution of 1917...
, with former
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
agentEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
Whittaker ChambersWhittaker Chambers born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker , was an American writer and editor. A Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent...
, two days after the signing of the Hitler-Stalin pact.
Adolf Augustus Berle, Jr. (January 27, 1895 in Boston, Massachusetts – February 17, 1971 in New York City; his name pronounced "burley") was an educator, author, and U.S. diplomat.
Biography
Berle was educated at Harvard, and was a member of the
Paris Peace ConferenceThe Paris Peace Conference was the meeting of the Allied victors in World War I to set the peace terms for Germany and other defeated nations, and to deal with the empires of the defeated powers following the Armistice of 1918. It took place in Paris in 1919 and involved diplomats from more than...
after
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
. Unhappy with the terms of the Versailles Treaty, he resigned in protest. He became a professor of corporate law at
Columbia Law SchoolColumbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. David Schizer is the dean....
in 1927 and remained on the faculty until retiring in 1964.
During the
FDR AdministrationFranklin Delano Roosevelt , the only U.S. President elected to more than two terms, was a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
, Berle worked on the
New DealThe New Deal was the name that United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave to his complex package of economic programs 1933-36 with the goals of what historians call the 3 Rs, of giving Relief to the unemployed and badly hurt farmers, Reform of business and financial practices, and promoting...
and the
Good Neighbor PolicyThe Good Neighbor policy was the foreign policy of the administration of United States President Franklin Roosevelt toward the countries of Latin America. The United States wished to have good relations with its neighbors, especially at a time when conflicts were beginning to rise once again, and...
.
As Assistant Secretary of State (1938-1944) in charge of security, Berle had a 1939 meeting, arranged by journalist
Isaac Don LevineIsaac Don Levine was an American journalist and writer.Born in Mozyr, Russia, Levine came to the United States in 1911. He finished high school in Missouri, and found work with The Kansas City Star and later The New York Herald Tribune, for which he covered the Revolution of 1917...
, with former
SovietThe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. The name is a translation of the , tr. Soyuz Sovetskikh Sotsialisticheskikh Respublik, abbreviated СССР, SSSR. The common short name is Soviet Union, from , Sovetskiy Soyuz...
agentEspionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, as the legitimate holder of the information may change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
Whittaker ChambersWhittaker Chambers born Jay Vivian Chambers and also known as David Whittaker , was an American writer and editor. A Communist Party USA member and Soviet spy, he later renounced communism and became an outspoken opponent...
, two days after the signing of the Hitler-Stalin pact. In his notes of that meeting, which he titled "Underground Espionage Agent," Berle listed a series of names, including that of State Department official
Alger HissAlger Hiss was an American lawyer, civil servant, businessman, author and lecturer. He was involved in the establishment of the United Nations both as a U.S. State Department and UN official...
, to which he appended the notation, "Member of the underground Com.--Active." In his 1973 memoirs, Levine wrote that Berle told him a few weeks later that he had brought the matter to FDR's attention, without success: “To the best of my recollection, the President dismissed the matter rather brusquely with an expletive remark on this order: ‘Oh, forget it, Adolf.’”
Berle later served as
AmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents their country. They are usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of their country....
to
BrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is a country in South America. It is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occupying nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Atlantic Ocean...
from 1945 to 1946, and was a founding member of the New York State Liberal Party. In 1961, he headed a task force for President
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
that recommended the
Alliance for ProgressThe Alliance for Progress initiated by U.S. President John F. Kennedy in 1961 aimed to establish economic cooperation between North and South America. The aid was intended to counter the perceived emerging communist threat from Cuba to U.S...
.
He published several books during his lifetime, including the groundbreaking work he authored with
Gardiner MeansGardiner C. Means was an American economist. He worked at Harvard University where he met Adolf Berle. Together they wrote the seminal work of corporate governance, The Modern Corporation and Private Property. Means followed the institutionalist tradition of economists...
called
The Modern Corporation and Private PropertyThe Modern Corporation and Private Property is a book written by Adolf Berle and Gardiner Means published in 1932. It explores the evolution of big business through a legal and economic lens, and argues that in the modern world those who legally have ownership over companies have been separated...
, which was first published in 1932.
External links